Could Shaquille O’Neal have saved Biggie’s life?
According to a re-telling of one of Shaq’s stories, it seems the former NBA player tried to convince The Notorious B.I.G. not to go to the Vibe party he attended just before he was shot to death in 1997.
ESPN’s Amin Elhassan, whose time as Phoenix Suns assistant director of basketball operations overlapped with O’Neal playing there in 2009, guest-hosted the “Rusillo and Kanell” podcast Friday and recounted a story the sure-fire Hall of Fame center told after the Suns saw an advanced screening of “Notorious,” which was based on Biggie’s life.
From Elhassan, via The Big Lead:
“Remember when the movie ‘Notorious’ came out? We got an advanced screening and watched it and, afterwards, Grant Hill was talking about how he was at the Vibe party that Biggie was at right before he got shot. So everyone was listening to Grant Hill like, ‘This is an amazing story.’ Except for Shaq, who was on the other end of the room and says, ‘That ain’t nothing.’ And then, he claims that he was at a tattoo parlor that afternoon and Biggie asked him what he was doing that night. He said, ‘Chillin. What are you doing?’ Biggie said, ‘Going to the Vibe party.’ And then (Shaq) said, ‘Don’t do that.’ And then he leaned back in his chair and folded his arms as if to say, ‘And the rest if history.’”
O’Neal previously has told a similar version of this story in his book, “Shaq Uncut: My Story,” according to The Big Lead, but never mentioned that a warning was issued.
While promoting the book, he recounted the events of the evening to ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.”
“I was in my condo. I had on a cold white suit, white hat and all that. I was on my way. I was dressed, ready to go. I just fell asleep. I woke up about 4 o’clock from a call from my mother. She said ‘Did you go to the party?’ I’m like, ‘No, what’re you talking about?’ She said, ‘You know, your friend was shot and killed.’ And I was like, ‘What?’ So then I hung up with her and called some people and they told me what had happened.”
We seriously doubt O’Neal knew Biggie was going to be murdered that night, but with heightened tension after Biggie’s rival, rapper Tupac Shakur, was murdered six months prior (and hindsight, of course), O’Neal’s concerns certainly were more than justified.
h/t to The Big Lead
Thumbnail photo via Bob Donnan/USA TODAY Sports Images
